| About Richard |
| Being an artist, to me, means having the need to create. My art is my life, my experience, my therapy. My art is not just a product, but a result of my life experience. I grew up an Army Brat and have traveled all over the world. Because my mother is from Yugoslavia I was fortunate to be able to experience life in a simple mountain village. The combination of a military background and a European background have taught me to love history. I bring that love into my work and hope that through my paintings I can remind people of the beauty of our past. I describe my work as "Ameromobilia" - a mixture of Americana & memorabilia. I paint nostalgia into all of my paintings, mostly things that are no longer recognizable by the public, such as hand painted signs on the old gas stations and simple things that are recognized universally. I take my inspiration from photographs and from memories from my past. I paint nostalgia, but nostalgia isn't always happy. When I revisit the past, often my paintings take on a deep, hidden or dark meaning. I also take inspiration from my immediate rural surroundings; family, strangers, various implements, settings and events that characterize the Southwestern Virginia region, and attempt to depict them in a manner at once familiar yet stylistically my own. My goal is to paint scenes that people will relate to. The greatest reward for me is when I see the effect my work has on someone else. As an artist I feel it is my responsibility to make art that has a positive transforming effect on the viewer. Art can make the world a better place, balancing images of destruction with images of goodness and beauty, providing comfort and relief to the viewer. |
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| Education Bachelor of Arts in Art Emory & Henry College Emory, Virginia Professional Associations Virginia Watercolor Society |
| ARTIST'S STATEMENT |